The problem is, most brands and digital marketers still don’t
understand that YouTube is a social network, and thus fail to fully
engage their audiences.

So why does this blindspot exist? Older demographics (i.e., those most likely to be marketers) tend to use Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, while younger users are preferring to use YouTube.
As a result the voice in any boardroom is unlikely to truly be aligned
with, or understand the nuances of user behaviors. Furthermore, for
years the platform has been perceived through the lens of its role as
serving viral content, and this narrative has dominated the industry.

Many brands wrongly focus on creating blockbuster viral hits instead of applying the same incremental, engagement strategy
that they use Facebook and Twitter. This intersection of lack of use
and perceived role of the platform has left marketers lagging behind
independent content creators.

As I’ve outlined in the past,
YouTube has a number of social media features, just like Twitter or
Facebook. More importantly, the nature of the interaction between
creators and subscribers on YouTube can lead to far deeper engagement
than between “followers” and the followed.

A great example of this is the missed opportunities to engage the
YouTube audience is Dove. It’s clear when looking at their Facebook or
Twitter that responding and interacting with their community is a
priority for the brand. They take the time to interact with thousands of
comments and questions from customers. But on YouTube, with the launch
of their Dove Real Beauty Sketches,
the brand landed a themselves a viral hit, generating tens of millions
of views, tons of press and blog pick ups and thousands of comments.

If Dove values interaction with its community, as reflected by its
investment to do so on Facebook and Twitter, why not on YouTube as well
where they received over 17,000 comments, many of which were incredibly
thoughtful and articulate. But given current priorities, these are
ignored.

Dove also missed an opportunity, by not incorporating any calls to action to subscribe or in video programming,
to leverage the 60 million views it generated to convert viewers to
subscribers, which would provide an evergreen distribution platform for
all their video content to follow. The subscribe button serves the same
purpose as a like or follow, with the homepage feed highlighting the latest subscriber actions such as uploads, updated playlists, comments, likes, etc. According to the YouTube Brand Playbook, subscribers also spend twice as much time watching a brand’s content than non-subscribers.

So who is doing YouTube right? Unlike most brands, which mistakenly
perceive YouTube as a passive TV-style viewing experience and/or a place
strictly for ‘viral’ videos. GoPro has been one of the few brands to
take advantage of the social media features that YouTube provides, and
they’ve reaped the benefit. Where Dove generated just over 7,000
subscriptions on their 60 million viewers, GoPro generated 15,000 off
its 10 million viewers of the viral hit, Lions – The New Endangered Species.

While GoPro has hours and hours of entertaining content on their
channel, it’s clear that they’re embracing their community and
interacting with them in near real time much in the same way most other
brands would leverage Facebook or Twitter to respond to consumers
evangelizing their brand. A cursory look at their activity feed shows a series of likes and comments across dozens of channels beyond their own.

GoPro has a kind of home court advantage thanks to the fact that the
brand is creating a product that consumers are using to create their own
YouTube videos—but any brand can take a page out of their playbook for engaging customers on the platform.
Inviting community participation is something that I regularly
recommend for my own clients. It’s simple enough to apply the same
principles and practices of community management on Facebook and Twitter
and carry them over to YouTube.

While many marketers and digital thought-leaders should be praised
for their innovations in digital—playing an instrumental role in taking
brands into the social media space—they’re now faced with the classic
innovator’s dilemma (whether they know it or not).

It will be interesting to see how brands and social media agencies
adapt to these changing platforms—both YouTube and beyond. As The Innovator’s Dilemma
author Clayton Christensen noted, “Disruptive technologies typically
enable new markets to emerge.” Will the marketers of today known for
their digital innovation adapt or, will a new generation of marketers
(myself included) step in to fill the gap?